Until this weekend I had laboured under the mistaken impression that mounted games were for pony club kids, but thanks to a man called Norman Patrick, that is absolutely not the truth, as I saw for myself at the Kentucky Horse Park, in the Sheila Johnson (that’s the new Rolex outdoor Stadium!) arena.
I was lucky enough to stand next to Carol whose 20 year old daughter Laura competes, as well as events, and Carol explained some of the rules to me.
All the riders must wear approved safety helmets. All the horses must wear snaffle bits.
Teams are made up of four or five members. There is no age restriction on riders. Ponies must be under 15hh. There were 12 races the afternoon we watched, out of about 30 races in total. Races, like the Victoria Cross which involves carrying a feed sack to imitate a fallen comrade, or the Windor Castle, (tea cups on sticks?) are posted before the competition.
Last year the World Championships were in Geneva, Switzerland. This year they will be in Denmark, and typically the teams borrow ponies when they travel abroad. As well as attracting all ages, mounted games also attracts a cross-section of other disciplines – hunting, eventing, jumpers, as well all walks of life; Carol points out an engineer, a nurse, and a couple of bartenders. Let’s meet Laura:
Carol says she gets more nervous watching Laura event despite Laura having dislocated her shoulder THREE times, her wrist once, and having surgery on her knee – not due to the eventing! Both Carol and Laura agreed it’s something they enjoy together, and next I spoke to Dave, who competes alongside his daughter. We’re talking just in front of the Head of the Lake, and please excuse the noise, but if you look at the waves in the background, and the spray coming off the fountain, you’ll get an idea of just how windy it was. If anyone knows how to cut down on wind noise in interviews, I’ll be eternally grateful for all suggestions.
The teams do indeed all have great names, and colourful costumes, and certainly everyone seemed to be having a great time.
Go and have fun, go and enjoy the games, and Go Eventing! Thanks for reading.
